BAXTER COUNTY, AR — Law enforcement authorities in Arkansas are investigating a Kansas man on sex allegations.

Early Saturday, following a complaint and surveillance, deputies arrested a Junction City, Kansas man after receiving a complaint that he was driving to Mountain Home, Arkansas to pick up a 16-year-old girl he had been communicating with on social media, according to Sheriff John Montgomery.

The girl had been sending sexually explicit photos and videos to him at his request, according to the sheriff.

The parents were concerned for the safety of the child. The man had arranged to meet her at a business parking lot on Highway 5 South of Mountain Home near the girl’s house.

A sheriff’s deputy set up surveillance at the location. At approximately 12:47 a.m., he observed a vehicle drive past the area twice, then pull in and park.

After parking, the man sent a text message to the girl stating he was close by. The man then walked from his car along Highway 5 South past the girl’s house, then to the meeting location.

The man went behind the building. The deputy then approached and made contact with the man, who was identified as 31 year old Andrew Mitchell O’Brien of Junction City, Kansas. After a brief exchange, deputies arrested and took  him into custody.

During a search of his vehicle, deputies found handcuffs, vodka, condoms as well as two cell phones believed to have been used in commission of the crimes. All of these were seized and taken into evidence.
Deputies transported O’Brien to the Baxter County Detention Center. He is being held in lieu of a $50,000 bond on requested charges of Engaging Children In Sexually Explicit Conduct for Use in Visual or Print Medium – Felony
Contributing to the Delinquency of Juvenile – Felony

He will appear in Circuit Court to answer on December 20th, according Montgomery.

Investigators also determined O’Brien is on active military duty stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. The military base was contacted regarding the incident, and the military police have also placed a detainer on him.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The number of priests or religious brothers accused of abusing minors in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City has risen to 35 with the addition of two new names.

The two names added over the weekend are Don Greene, who has died, and Mel Lahr. The diocese says Lahr was removed from the ministry for a “credible allegation of violation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” The initial list of 33 names was released last month.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says on its website that three publicly accused priests still aren’t included. One of them was assigned to Columbia in the 1980s and later convicted of sexual abuse in Illinois.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Penny Marshall, who starred in “Laverne & Shirley” before becoming one of the top-grossing female directors in Hollywood, has died. She was 75.

Marshall’s publicist, Michelle Bega, said Marshall passed away in her Hollywood Hills, Calif., home on Monday due to complications from diabetes.

Marshall starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley,” which aired from 1976 to 1983. As a filmmaker, she became the first woman to direct a film that grossed more than $100 million with “Big,” the 1988 comedy starring Tom Hanks. She also directed “A League of Their Own,” ”Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Awakenings.”

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas security company says it may go out of business because of licensing problems that began when two of its employees were charged with fatally shooting a man outside a Missouri bar.

The latest blow to Overland Park, Kansas-based Force One Security is the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners voting Monday to deny its appeal of a license revocation. It mostly does business in Missouri.

After the two guards were charged in July with leaving their post to investigate a wreck and killing a motorist, the company was placed on probation for five years and fined $5,000. The board then revoked the company’s license to operate in Kansas City in September because two of its employees failed their firearm qualification test.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two Missouri residents and two Colorado residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their roles in a conspiracy to distribute more than $1.7 million of marijuana, according to the United State’s Attorney.

Christopher E. Buckingham, 42, of Versailles, Mo.; Natalie J. McNeil, 33, of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; her brother, Tanner L. McNeil, 28, of Denver, Colo.; and Benjamin T. Parker, 28, also of Denver, were charged in a two-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Buckingham’s arrest and initial court appearance. The remaining defendants are not yet in custody.

The federal indictment alleges that Buckingham, Natalie McNeil, Tanner McNeil and Parker participated in a conspiracy to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana from Aug. 28, 2015, to July 10, 2018. The indictment also charges Buckingham, Natalie McNeil, Tanner McNeil and Parker with participating in a money-laundering conspiracy during that time.

According to the indictment, conspirators purchased marijuana from sources in Colorado and shipped the marijuana to Missouri for further distribution. Conspirators sold the marijuana in Missouri, the indictment says, and funneled the proceeds back to Colorado by making deposits in multiple bank accounts at different locations. Deposits were simultaneously made in amounts designed, at least in part, to avoid federal transaction reporting requirements, the indictment alleges. Co-conspirators then allegedly withdrew the drug proceeds from bank locations in Colorado.

Members of the conspiracy allegedly deposited approximately $1,769,244 in cash proceeds from the distribution of marijuana in Missouri in bank accounts located in Missouri. The federal indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation, which would require the defendants to forfeit to the government any property derived from the proceeds of the drug-trafficking or money-laundering conspiracies, including a money judgment of $1,769,244.

GREENWOOD, Mo. (AP) — Police say an infant is recovering after a man walked into a northwest Missouri police station and said he had drowned his 6-month-old child.

The man identified as Stephen Zicarelli, 28, Greenwood made the report at the Greenwood police station Monday morning.

Greenwood police Cpl. Thomas Calhoun was able to determine where the child was and he and Police Chief Greg Hallgrimson rushed to the pond.

They found the child floating in the pond. Calhoun performed CPR and was able to revive the child.

Police say the child is reported to be in good health Monday afternoon.

Zicarelli was booked into jail and remains in custody Tuesday, according to the Jackson County Detention Facility.

Greenwood, with a population of about 5,220 people, is about 25 miles southeast of Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY–Vatterott’s Career Colleges ceased operations nationally at 4:00pm Monday.  The for-profit college runs campuses across the country including Kansas City, and Springfield  and Joplin Missouri,  Memphis TN, Oklahoma City, OK, Quincy, IL, and Tulsa, OK.

A note sent to students on Monday said,“To our deep regret, changes in economic and regulatory conditions in recent years have had a significant, prolonged, negative impact on the Vatterott institutions. These changes also have made it difficult to secure additional financing or capital. In order to address these challenges, we entered into a Missouri state receivership and identified a buyer that was interested in purchasing Vatterott and investing the time and resources Vatterott would need to stabilize and flourish. We successfully signed a letter of intent with this buyer, and were prepared to move forward with a sale. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Education recently decided to significantly increase the restrictions on Vatterott’s participation in the federal financial aid programs. Vatterott is unable to continue operation under these restrictions, and consequently, is unable to complete the aforementioned sale. The Department imposed these restrictions despite the presence of an interested buyer and our clear communication that such restrictions would result in the school’s closure.”